Papilio is a neo-traditional acoustic trio based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. With fiddle, flutes, vocals and guitars, Papilio renders a mix of celtic and international instrumentals, original compositions, and folk songs with their own distinctive creative twist. Their musical adventures through Ireland, Scotland, Brittany (France), Scandinavia, Galicia and Asturias (Spain), Cape Breton, Quebec, the Balkans, and further afield show the inspiration and creativity that ensue when cultures connect.

The trio has performed at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, the Celtic Colours International Festival, the East Coast Music Awards, the Halifax Multicultural Festival, Nova Scotia Music Week, and in concert venues and dance halls across the Maritimes. They are currently at work on a second album.

Papilio’s debut album, First Flight, engineered by Glenn Coolen and John D.S. Adams, was nominated for an East Coast Music Award and a Nova Scotia Music Award in 2014.

Papilio’s “First Flight” has just been nominated for Traditional Roots Music Album of the year by Music Nova Scotia. First Flight was also nominated in the category of Traditional Instrumental Recording of the Year at the 2014 East Coast Music Awards. It is easy to understand why. Jennifer Publicover, Anthony Rissesco and Phil Shappert have recorded an exceptional performance with delicate treatment of each piece. - Michael Trenholme, East Coast Kitchen Party

THE BAND

Anthony Rissesco is a versatile violin player and teacher who tours regularly with singer-songwriter Lennie Gallant and with roots-rock band Pogey. He is also a member of the Halifax band The Gig Dogs. As a music student at Dalhousie University, Anthony studied classical violin under Phillippe Djokic. He has won fiddle competitions throughout Canada, including the Maritime Fiddle Championship. In 1990, he came third in the Canadian Open in Shelburne Ontario, and he was chosen to represent Nova Scotia at the Grand Masters Competition in Ottawa for six consecutive years. Anthony has played with Symphony Nova Scotia, Bruce Guthro, Cyril MacPhee, Anne Murray, Merrimac, and Peggy Seeger. http://www.anthonyrissesco.com...

Jennifer Publicover leads a multi-faceted life performing on both the modern orchestral flute and wooden Irish flute. She earned her Master's degree in flute performance at the University of Toronto and her B.Mus at Mount Allison. As a collaborator in traditional music forms, she also works with harpist Alys Howe and many other artists. In her alter ego as a classical flutist, she has freelanced for Symphony Nova Scotia, the Stadacona Band (including as a featured soloist with Scott Macmillan), and the Charlottetown Festival Orchestra. Currently finishing up a second master’s degree, she is writing a thesis on the use of music as an environmental education tool, based on interviews with prominent Canadian songwriters. She also teaches at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. www.jenniferpublicover.com/

Phil Schappert, or Dr. Phil, as his students knew him, is a PhD entomologist/botanist who has written books about plant/insect interactions (FYI, Papilio is a genus of swallowtail butterflies, represented in Nova Scotia by Papilio canadensis, the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail). Introduced to Irish and Scottish traditional music by Don Ross (and Joel Shore, his fiddle-playing PhD supervisor), Phil has developed a particular fondness for the music of Brittany, celtic Spain and Scandinavia. He plays fingerstyle guitar, and plays instruments made by Nova Scotia luthier Russel Crosby and Irish luthier George Lowden. Phil has been a member of the neo-Celtic ensemble Fancy's Flight, and has played in neo-celtic/jazz/folk/trad bands in Toronto and Austin, Texas. http://philschappert.ca/